A Sleep and a Forgetting by
Gregory Hall
hbk out April 03
Published by HarperCollins
at £17.99
A nice change to review a book that's largely based in a Cotswold village, rather than
being about Californian private eyes, CIA hitmen or serial rapist-killers. However, it's not
a Miss Marples-style 'cosy', but an intriguing tale starting with a mystery and ending with
the exposure of a conspiracy.
Catriona Turville, an attractive professor of English Literature at a London college,
receives a suicide note through the mail from her only sister, who lives in
Gloucestershire. She hurries to the house – empty as the husband and daughter are away –
but finds no body, no disturbance and only Flora's handbag missing. Because the note
gives their mutual childhood tragedy as the reason for killing herself, Catriona destroys it
to save the daughter and the husband - who is a research chemist in a large
pharmaceutical company - the trauma of learning their old secret.
Nothing is heard of Flora for weeks and with some reluctance, Catriona accepts the offer
of one of her mature students, a journalist, to seek out some way of discovering what may
have happened to her.
From then on, things get nasty, with attempts on the life and professional reputation of the
professor. This is a book you want to keep on reading, to see if your explanation of the
complex story will tally with the author's.
Well-written and very English – with some Scots flashback – it is mature and convincing.
The only mild criticism I would make is that the dénouement is complicated and stretches
credibility somewhat. There are long blocks of monologue which would never occur in
real conversation – but perhaps that is the script-writer in me speaking. However, a very
worthwhile read, especially if you appreciate indigenous fiction.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
A Sleep and a Forgetting by
Gregory Hall
